{"id":33507,"date":"2023-12-07T08:57:35","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T08:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/?p=33507"},"modified":"2023-12-07T04:39:12","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T04:39:12","slug":"christian-horner-clearly-trying-to-sign-daniel-ricciardo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/christian-horner-clearly-trying-to-sign-daniel-ricciardo\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Horner ‘clearly trying’ to sign Daniel Ricciardo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ex-Formula 1 driver Christijan Albers believes Red Bull team principal is “clearly trying” to get Daniel Ricciardo back alongside Max Verstappen, despite Sergio Perez’s contract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perez’s future was a huge talking point during the recently completed season, as his poor mid-campaign performances raised doubts over if he could support the team going forwards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It led to suggestions that Red Bull would opt to not respect the Mexican driver’s contract for 2024 and instead get Ricciardo back into the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This hasn’t happened, as Red Bull have stressed that Perez’s deal will be honoured; however, the door hasn’t been completely closed on Ricciardo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was confirmed at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this year that Ricciardo had been given a full-time seat at AlphaTauri for 2024, as the team were impressed with how he’d done since replacing Nyck de Vries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of Ricciardo being retained alongside Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson has been left on the bench for another season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole situation does appear slightly odd, given that AlphaTauri are viewed as Red Bull’s junior team, yet it’s them who’ll be fielding the oldest driver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 34 years old, Ricciardo is older than both Verstappen and Perez and is certainly not a junior driver, whilst at 21 years old, Lawson very much is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albers believes AlphaTauri giving Ricciardo a full-time deal is part of Horner’s plan to get the Australian driver back into Red Bull to replace Perez, something which some have suggested could happen mid-season if Checo struggles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would then make sense as to why Lawson has been kept as reserve driver, given that Ricciardo would then leave a space open at AlphaTauri. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lando Norris lashes out at journalist over \u2018BFF\u2019 comment https:\/\/t.co\/0ayaJw3MZL<\/a><\/p>— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) December 2, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>